Me, Myself, and I
by MikeJaffa
Summary: Spoilers for What If: Magik #1 and Uncanny X-Men up to #21. I respond to all of it here! Also has spoilers for What If the X-Men Had Stayed in Asgard?
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: Me, Myself, and I  
AUTHOR: MikeJaffa  
SYNOPSIS: Spoilers for What If: Magik #1 and Uncanny X-Men up to #21. I respond to all of it here! Also has spoilers for What If the X-Men Had Stayed in Asgard?  
DISCLAIMER: Marvel owns the rights to the X-Men and the New Mutants. I don't own the rights to "Ordinary World," but I provide attribution in the text  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've done my best to keep the Illyana's straight, but if it gets confusing, let me know.

_"What has happened to me?  
Crazy, some would say  
Where is my friend when I need you most?  
Gone away"_

-Duran Duran, "Ordinary World."

Hela surveyed Limbo's blasted landscape outside Magik's palace. A human—or even most Asgardians gods—wouldn't notice much beyond the hellish landscape, the tortured red sky, and the demons going to and fro. But if one were unintimidated by Limbo's appearance and looked beneath the surface, one would feel what Hela felt:

Depression.

Sadness.

Hopelessness.

It was in the color of the sky, the sound of the wind, the eyes of the demons, even the flames and smoke venting from the ground.

Limbo was the reflection was of its ruler, and its ruler was a demon who had lost all but the will to live. And that will to live was tenuous if S'Ym was to be believed.

She turned and banged on the door.

It opened. S'Ym and N'astirh stood there. Looking closely at their faces, Hela could see Limbo's gloom had infected even them. Hela could feel it starting to claw at her. She had to resist for this to work.

She said, "Are you ready? You know your parts?"

S'Ym nodded. "Thanks for helping, Hela."

"I'm not doing it for you, S'Ym. The New Mutants are almost like family."

"Still…" S'Ym trailed off.

"Thank me if it works," Hela said. "One drawback of being a goddess of death is knowing far too much about how life ends. Let's go."

"All right," S'Ym said, "just…I have to warn you, it's bad. For her, it's really bad."

Hela nodded. They didn't say word on the way to the throne room. When they pushed through the door, Hela hesitated for a step. Her first thought was, 'S'Ym wasn't kidding.' The demon had reached out to Hela, to try and get Illyana out of her depression by provoking a fight. Hela had at once been skeptical of the strategy and curious as to how bad it had to be for proud S'Ym to ask for help.

*This* bad.

The memory of the young blonde sorceress still fresh in her mind, Hela barely hid her shock at the entity who occupied the throne room. Illyana—or the demon who had been Illyana—wasn't sitting on the throne. She was squatting on it; her tail was too thick to allow normal sitting. A black armored bodice was all she wore over her red skin. Dark, matted and tangled hair hung around her face and draped over the horns and tusks sprouting from her forehead and face. She had cloven feet and three fingers that were almost claws in place of human hands. Her bat-like wings were folded around her like a cloak. She didn't seem to notice the arrivals, her head bowed, eyelids almost closed over her glowing yellow eyes. If you strained to listen, you could hear a soft keening whine.

For any other demon, it would be considered normal. But to anyone who had known Illyana—even duplicitous demons like S'Ym and N'astirh who had served her as often as they had betrayed her-it would be a sign that something had gone horribly wrong.

No wonder S'Ym had asked for help. 'He must care for her deep down,' Hela thought.

Hela screwed on a stern look as she sauntered towards the throne. She said, "You're in my chair."

Illyana didn't raise her head. "I am?" she said in rasping, low voice.

Hela stopped in front of the throne. "I'm taking over. Expanding the realm of the dead, that sort of thing. Your servants have already agreed to serve me."

Illyana raised her eyes to Hela's. "Have they now?"

"Mmm-Hmmm. So why not make it easy on yourself and get out of my throne room."

Illyana looked away for a moment. "All right," she rasped. She hopped off the throne and gestured to it. "Have a seat. Not the most comfortable chair, but it suffices." She walked past Hela and turned her attention to S'Ym and N'astirh. "Boys, my last command is for you to clean this place up. I don't think it's been touched since Belasco was here. I know, it's a hell, but it could look nice. Not sure how you'll get Kurt's foot out of the floor, but I'm sure you'll manage." To Hela: "Watch your back around them." She climbed into an open window.

Hela said, "Did you hear what I said? I'm taking over! You're being deposed. I'm taking Limbo from you."

"I heard you. You're welcome to it. And I need the flying practice." Illyana jumped out the window.

Hela and the two demons came to the windows. Her wings spread, Illyana flew unevenly away from the palace, weaving back and forth and constantly changing altitude.

Hela said, "Damn. She called my bluff. I'm sorry, S'Ym."

"It's ok," S'Ym said. "It as a longshot anyway. She's fought me for less provocation than that, so I thought that might have a chance of pulling her out of her funk. Any ideas, Hela?"

Hela shook her head. "I'm afraid I know way more about situations like this than any living being should. If someone else can't help her, you may need a new ruler for real ere long."

8

8

Illyana's shoulders were burning as she struggled to fly in a straight line. The palace was long since out of sight, and she flew on, hoping that if she did nothing else in her demon form, it would be to master her new ability to fly. It wasn't going well. She turned when she didn't want to, and when she did, she either didn't turn, turned too much, or went into a nosedive and overcompensated when she tried to pull out of it.

She pulled out of one dive too late, her hooves scraping the ground before she bounced off a boulder. She hit the ground hard and bounced and rolled, coming to a stop face down in the dirt. She laid there and just let the soft, keening whines rise out of her throat.

But there were no tears. There would never be tears again. Demons couldn't cry. So no matter how much it hurt, there would never be tears ever again.

"I think you're trying too hard." It sounded like a young boy's voice.

"What?" Illyana lifted her head and looked at the speaker.

Two demon children stood there. Take away their horns, fangs, and tails, and make the purple skin and yellow eyes normal human colors and they could be mistaken for two ten-year-old children, a boy and a girl, wearing jumpers. The girl carried a wooden box.

The boy recognized her. The children backed up. The boy said, "Forgive us, Darkchylde! We meant no disrespect. Your flying was magnificent."

"You don't have to—uhn—lie to save yourselves," Illyana said as she rose stiffly. "Who are you?"

"I am Seth," the boy said, "and this is my sister Hath, of the Green Fire clan."

"I'm on the edge of the scar lands, then," Illyana said. "I didn't think I had flown that far. Anyway, what was your suggestion?"

"You're trying too hard," Seth said. "You can twist your wings—" He gestured with his hands. "—Like this, see? This way to turn left, this way to turn right, this way to dive, this to pull out of a dive if you're not in a power climb, and this way to break for landing. Other than that, just relax and look where you want to go and be careful not to stall too soon."

"Hmm. I'll try that."

Illyana lifted off with a powerful wing beat. But she was sliding into the ground ten seconds later.

Seth said, "Small movements. It just takes practice. Try again."

Illyana tried again, remembering all of Seth's pointers. This time it was as he had said. She banked, climbed, and dove and pulled out of dives with hardly a thought. Her shoulders didn't even hurt has much as before. For the first time since she had lost her human side in that terrible fight, Illyana smiled and almost laughed. When she came in to land, she stalled, hovered, and lowered herself to the ground without any difficulty.

The children laughed, clapped, and jumped.

Illyana said, "My thanks. But how do you know so much about flying? Neither of you has wings. Do your siblings have wings?"

"No," Seth said. "That's what the Valkyries teach their winged horses."

Illyana's smile vanished. "What do you know about Valkyries?"

Hath put down the box and opened it. The children pulled out small, carved, painted, stone figurines.

Illyana recognized them, and the pain that had faded for a few minutes started to return.

Seth grinned. "We made these. We play at being your allies, the magnificent New Mutants!"

"Look at me!" Hath said. "I'm Danielle Mirage of the Valkyor! I'm riding my winged steed, Brightwind, and following the Darkchylde into bat-"

"NO!" Illyana made a sharp gesture, and the figurines and the box exploded into flames and dust. "No more New Mutants! No more X-Men! I'm not one of them. I never was. I—I-" She screamed in anguish, turned away, and folded her wings around her. "Go away," she rasped. "Go home before I-"

A three-meter-wide multi-colored cloud boiled into existence in front of Illyana and about six feet off the ground, rumbling with lightning coursing through it.

Illyana's anger faded. She said, "What in the name of the abyss is that?"


	2. Chapter 2

Doctor Stephen Strange knocked on Illyana's door. "Illyana! Are you ready yet?"

"Just a sec!" came the voice from behind the door.

"You said that five 'just a secs' ago. Is a 'sec' a fixed unit of time or variable? I ask for future reference."

"Ok, ok, I'm ready!" The door opened, revealing the 16-year-old blonde sorceress. She had a black tunic, a white sash, and black pants on under her cloak of levitation, and black boots, her eye of Agamotto affixed to the clasp at her neck. She held her soulstaff. "I wish you would tell me why this is so important," she said. "Is one of the Vishanti coming to Earth? It's gotta be someone important for me to get all dressed up."

"I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise. Could you teleport us to my study please?"

"Sure."

Light circles flashed under them and they were in Stephen's study, standing by the door. Two men were between them and the desk, one muscular with dark hair, standing, and the other a bald man in a wheelchair, with their backs turned.

Stephen Strange said, "Here she is!"

The men turned. Illyana didn't recognize the bald man. But the other man, who smiled as he turned…

Her brother, Peter Rasputin. And he looked exactly as he had when Illyana had last seen him.

Peter started to say, "Little snow-" He broke off and his face fell. "What is this?" he demanded.

Illyana clutched her staff tighter and withdrew a pace as Stephen said, "This is your sister, Illyana."

Peter changed into his armored form. "Nyet! My little snowflake would be nine years old. This girl is a teenager! Where is Illyana? Tell me or I'll-"

The bald man said quietly, "Peter, let the man speak."

"Professor."

"Illyana was indeed born nine years ago," Strange said, "but she spent seven years in Limbo while seconds passed on Earth. Time and space are…fungible there. But once I had realized that, it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened."

The bald man added, "I've checked the DNA sample Stephen provided me, Peter. There is no doubt. This is your sister."

Peter returned to human form. "Professor."

Stephen turned to Illyana, and the for the first time his manner betrayed anger. "And you, young lady, never told me you have a family."

"You never asked," Illyana said.

"Well, I had to find out the hard way, and that means you are a minor who has been living here under false pretenses. Not only do I have no right to keep you here, but Peter and his friends, the 'X-Men,' have every right to smash the place down to get you. If I hadn't already known Professor Xavier here for some years, I don't think I could have negotiated this meeting-"

"You're sending me away?" Illyana interrupted.

"I'm sending you home," Stephen corrected. "Or at least putting you in the custody of someone who-"

"No, no! I can't go back. You know why, Stephen. I'm dangerous to them. This is the only place where I can't hurt anybody. You know it. You'd be failing in your duty as sorcerer supreme if you sent me away and I hurt somebody."

"Illyana," Stephen said, "I am going to ask just one…"

"No!" Illyana screamed. "I can't go back! I won't go back!"

She cast a spell of oxygenation around herself as stepping disks flashed under her and deposited her on Mars. She had landed next to a small defunct rover with the sun—maddeningly smaller than when viewed from Earth—hugging the horizon. She didn't know if it was sunrise or sunset.

The air rippled and Stephen appeared next to her, his own oxygenation spell flashing around him.

"I hate this damned planet," Stephen said (magic conveying his words through the thin atmosphere). "The Martian dirt takes forever to clean off." He extended his hand. "Hand them over."

"Hand what over?"

"Your cloak and your amulet," he said. "If you don't put up a fight, I'll let you keep the staff and the mystical knowledge you learned from me. But I am within my rights to demand the return of whatever artifacts I have given you."

"Stephen, I'm sorry, but I had to lie to you."

"No one ever 'has to' lie, Illyana. And you can't take it back. Not only have you violated my trust, but you've put me in and untenable position legally and morally. Quite simply, you can't stay. Peter Rasputin, acting on behalf of your parents, has every right to demand your return, and I am in no position to refuse. Now, for the last time-"

The air above and next to them rippled and a multi-colored cloud, about ten feet wide appeared, lightening flashing in it.

"Moons of Munopor…" Stephen started. A tendril of energy reached for Illyana; she fired her own blast back and dissolved it.

"Illy…" Stephen started. Then he hesitated. "If this is a trick to gain my sympathy…"

Illyana batted another tendril away with her soulstaff. "I'd never do that to you, Stephen!"

"Of course not. It's not like you have a credibility issue."

"Stephen!"

As annoyed as he was with Illyana, Stephen couldn't take the chance this wasn't a genuine attack. "We will continue our discussion once we have resolved this," he said. His eye of Agamotto opened and its beam probed the cloud. "It appears to be a summoning," he said, "weird mix of Belasco's black magic and-"

"But I killed Belasco!" Illyana protested as she deflected another tendril with her soulstaff.

"I said Belasco's *magic,*" Stephen corrected, "which doesn't mean it'd be from Belasco himself. Anyone using the same spells. And Norse magic. The magical 'signature' is almost familiar. It has a pretty sophisticated structure and-" Stephen's eyes widened in alarm. "Illyana, pull back! This thing may be capable of-"

Four tendrils lashed out from the cloud. One enveloped the end of the soulstaff while three more wrapped around Illyana's body. Then she was yanked into the cloud and it disappeared.

8

8

Illyana's soulsword flashed into her hand as she instinctively kept herself between the cloud and the demon children. "Stay back, kids!" the winged demoness ordered. She conjured a shield between them and the cloud.

The cloud contracted, shuddered violently, and rumbled. Energy blasts erupted from it and hit the ground. Then a searching beam of light flashed on and off.

Seth peeked around Illyana. "That looks like Vishanti magic," he said.

"You're right," Illyana said. "Whoever's in there has an eye of Agamotto. If it is who I think it is, I should be able to clear this-"

The cloud shuddered violently and spat out a figure who fell to the ground. As expected, it wore a cloak of levitation and an amulet of Agamotto, but it was younger than Stephen, female, with blonde hair. She was gripping a staff with a forked end.

Hath said, "Is that who you expected?"

"No," Illyana said.

The girl raised her head, and Illayana recognized the face:

Her face. But younger, maybe 16 or 17 years old.

Seth said, "She looks like you."

"I think she is me. But…wait, Vishanti artifacts, at that age? That's wrong."

The younger Illyana's eyes widened and she sprang to her feet. "Who are you?" she shouted, brandishing her staff. "What are you?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Illyana asked. "I'm you. You could say the real you-"

"No! I'm nothing like you!" She threw her staff at the demon, who deflected it with her flaming sword.

Demonic Illyana cursed under her breath. She didn't want to have a fight with an alternate version of herself, particularly not a stereotypical 'You-are-really-evil-join-me' fight. She had always hated it when bad guys did that. Why couldn't they understand she could be a demon and still be loyal to her friends?

She said, "Kid, listen to me-"

The staff returned to the teenager's hand, and she screamed threw it again. The demon deflected it with her soulsword. The staff vanished into a stepping disk. Realizing what was happening, Demon Illyana leapt, instinctively flying as the staff appeared behind where she had been and flew through where she had been standing before returning to its mistress' hands.

"Cool move," the demon said, "but I got that down years ago." She threw her sword into a stepping disk. It appeared to the teenager's right. Teenaged Illyana deflected it with her staff. The sword flew back to the demon, who caught it.

The demon landed and said, "We could do this all day, or we could what we'll eventually do anyway and talk."

Teenaged Illyana nodded. "So what is this? An alternate reality? The future?"

"Both, I think," the demonic Illyana said. "Near as I can figure you're an alternate version of my…well, what my past self would have been like if I had made it to 16."

"Wh-what?" Teenage Illyana brandished her staff again. "You're trying to confuse me! You want to kill me-"

The cloud, which had been dormant, came back to life. It rumbled and fired tendrils at both Illyanas.

The dodged, one thanks to her cloak and the other thanks to her wings, and they cast shields. The cloud fired more tendrils at the teenager and the demon, but their shields held.

Demon Illyana said, "That thing seems to be interested in both of us, so maybe I'm not the bad guy here."

"Seems that way," Teenaged Illyana responded.

"Well, on the off chance I'm not lying, why don't we let that thing capture us and…"

"…let it take us back to its master and give him a really bad day?"

"You read my mind!"

"All right. I'm down for that."

"Ok. Drop your shield in three…two…one…NOW!"

Both Illyanas dropped their shields. Tendrils enveloped them and sucked them into the cloud.

They tumbled through a storm of light and energy, totally disoriented, not knowing which way was up, or even if they were moving. Then they were disgorged onto a marble floor.

Demon Illyana rose to a crouch. She recognized the room they were in at once, the throne room of Asgard's Enchantress. But standing by the throne was not the Asgardian but yet another Illyana. This one looked to be in her twenties, wearing a silver armored bodice and silver horned helmet. Dani Moonstar—and alternate Dani Moonstar, the demon corrected herself-stood to one side, but this Dani had a torn cloak and bat-winged helmet, and seemed cloaked in darkness. And on the other side…

She wore a green dress and a gold circlet around her head, but it was Rahne Sinclair. Not the Rahne Demon Illyana had known, of course, but Rahne nonetheless.

Demon Illyana lowered her eyes and said, "Surprise, surprise, another me. Never thought I would see this place again." She turned to the teenager. "Welcome back to Asgard, Kid."

"What do you mean 'back'?" the teenager demanded as she got to her feet. "I've never been here before."


	3. Chapter 3

"I have to warn you, Rahne," Illyana, Enchantress of Asgard, said, "these other two versions of me I've identified are…different."

"How different?" Rahne, Queen of the Forrests of Asgard, asked.

Energy swirled around Illyana as she began casting the spell. It congealed into a swirling multi-colored cloud and vanished.

"There," said Illyana. "It's on its way. Strictly speaking it'll be in both places at once and also work as a portal."

"Illyana," Rahne said, "how different?"

Illyana turned to Rahne. "Rahne, how do you think I would have reacted if this cloud thing showed up out of nowhere and started firing tendrils at me?"

"What!? You're not asking?"

"There will be time for that when they-"

The cloud reappeared and disgorged two figures onto the marble floor. One of them looked like Illyana had as teenager, but wearing a black outfit, a red golf-trimmed cloak with a high collar, a gold amulet at her neck, and holding a forked staff. But Rahne barely concealed her shock at the sight of the other being: the face was recognizable as Illyana, but she was a red-skinned winged demon with glowing yellow eyes and wearing an armored bodice. She had cloven feet, a thick tail, three fingers on each hand, and the dark hair was unkempt.

The demoness rose to a crouch and her eyes met Rahne's. Then she looked away. "Surprise, surprise," the demoness said in a low, rasping voice, "another me. Never thought I would see this place again." She turned to the teenager. "Welcome back to Asgard, Kid."

"What do you mean 'back'?" the teenage version of Illyana demanded as she got to her feet. "I've never been here before."

The demoness stood. "Never been here? You mean, you and the team weren't accidentally kidnapped by the Enchantress?"

"I'm not part of any team," teenage Illyana protested. "And what 'enchantress'? You mean her?"

"No," the demon said, "her predecessor." She turned to Enchantress Illyana. "But it looks like you went through the same thing I did…only it ended differently."

Enchantress Illyana nodded as she crossed to the demonic version. "My Rahne couldn't leave Hrimhari, so at first it looked like we were all going to stay. But it worked out that about half wanted to stay and half wanted to go back to Earth. So Loki changed his mind and let those who wanted to go leave and the, others including me, Rahne, Sam, and Dani, stayed."

Demon Illyana pointed at Teenager Illyana and said, "And what's Brat Me's story?"

"She's pretty far down the causal corridor from us," Enchantress explained. "I haven't been able to see all the details yet. But I know that she's never joined the New Mutants."

"Didn't join?" Demon Illyana pondered. "But then how did the others handle the Demon Bear?"

Teenager said, "Hell-looo! I'm in the room. Stop talking about me like I'm not here."

"No idea," Enchantress Illyana answered, ignoring the teenaged version, "although her timeline has a lot of differences. Near as I can figure, even her Belasco was different. I can't tell if she was in a different Limbo or our Limbo where time went screwy (again). But her Belasco was definitely not…behaving the way ours did."

"What do you mean?"

Teenage Illyana screamed, "HE RAPED ME, ALL RIGHT!? He did all sorts of sick things to me every night for seven years! He said it was part of my apprenticeship, but really he-"

Rahne took a few quick steps towards the teenager and said, "That's enough! I'm sorry for what happened to you, but that doesn't excuse your behavior, and we simply don't have time."

The teenaged Illyana brandished her spear at Rahne. "And just who the hell you think you are to order me around? I'm the apprentice of Earth's sorcerer supreme!"

A soft growl escaped Rahne as she changed to her half wolf form. She said, "I'm the one who already knows she can give you a good scratch before you know what hits you."

"Yeah? You and what army?"

"I don't need an army," Rahne said. "You have no idea how badly you're telegraphing right now. I can put you in traction without breaking a sweat. Or just give you a good spanking, which I think you need right now."

Illyana screamed and started to fire a bolt from her staff, but before the energy discharged, Rahne was on her, grabbing the staff and cuffing the teenager's face. Illyana fell backwards and realized she didn't have the spear anymore and her left cheek hurt. She put a finger to it and found the finger had blood on it. "You cut me!" the teenaged Illyana spat.

Leaning on the spear, Rahne smiled slightly. "A wee scratch. I can do worse." She turned to the other Illyanas. "Sorcerer supreme? Really? Her Doctor Strange must be hard up." Back to Teenage Illyana: "Before you embarrass yourself any further, let me remind you that I'm not in charge here. You are. Or more properly, another version of you is. She has the same evil in her heart you do. So you tell me what she's thinking right now."

Teenage Illyana looked at the floor. "She's wondering if she really needs me alive for her purpose." She stood and crossed to the Enchantress version. "I'm very sorry," she said. "I have a lot of issues, and I shouldn't take them out on…me."

Enchantress Illyana nodded. "Apology accepted. And you're right, I don't need you alive, but right now we need all the warm bodies we can get, even with Thor and the Valkyries on our side."

Teenage Illyana opened her hand. Rahne changed back to human as she allowed the staff to leave her grasp and return to its owner.

The teenager said, "So what's the situation?"

"I'll show you."

They crossed to ten-foot-wide scrying pool on the other side of the room. Rahne, Dani, and the three Illyanas stood around it as Enchantress Illyana narrated the images that appeared: "I told you how my Loki allowed half of the X-Men and New Mutants to return to Earth while the rest of us stayed. That was where the trouble started. Loki was trying to curry favor with Those Who Sit Above In Shadow, super gods who are kind of gods to the Asgardian gods. He ended up more or less fulfilling some goals Those Who Sit Above had set for him, so they gave him what he wanted: Dominion over Asgard. They just didn't tell him they were going to send him to the end of time first. And that's where he found Kulan Gath's necklace."

Teenage Illyana said, "Kulan Gath. Hyborean age sorcerer. Pretty powerful. And there was a legend he'd bound his soul to a gem, but Stephen and I never came across it."

"Well, it popped up in my timeline," Enchantress Illayana said, "and I helped the X-Men beat him. It survived to the end of time, and that's where Loki found it. Now, under normal circumstances, Loki could have handled it, but what Those Who Sit Above In Shadow had done had driven him insane. Kulan Gath took over, came back to the present, and conquered Asgard."

The Demoness said, "And you need us to get rid of Kulan Gath?"

"Your weapons." The Enchantress gestured and two scrolls floated from a shelf to her other selves. "The Norns spelled it out—two soulswords and a soulstaff. And one of you has to be the weilder."

Teeanger and demon read the scrolls. Demon Illyana said, "This is remarkably comprehensible."

"Yeah, well," Enchantress said, "it's in their interest to get rid of Kuly, too, so they cut to chase. And a few veiled threats didn't hurt either."

"Yeah," the teenager said, "the weapon seems pretty straightforward, but this bit about the wielder makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Demon Illyana said. She tossed aside the scroll. "Try again," she said as she headed for the balcony. "Three months ago I would have been inclined to help you."

"I can't," Enchantress Illyana said. "I had one chance at that spell, and now I'm stuck with the two of…me."

"Then I guess I'm screwed."

Rahne went up behind the demoness. "Oi! What's the matter with you?"

Demon Illyana looked out over the landscape and didn't look at Rahne. "Hmm, horns, tail, hooves, evil, demon, I dunno Rahne, maybe I'm finally acting the part for once."

"My Illyana has all that inside her, too, but she's in this fight."

"Well, Kulan Gath, Loki, Odin, whoever rules this Asgard, Rahne, makes no difference to me."

"Maybe, 'Yana, but this is my home now. More than that, I'm a queen, and my subjects are suffering under Kulan Gath. I have to save them."

"They won't be there when you need them. Trust me, one queen to another."

"So that's it?" Rahne said. "That's your final answer? Ok. Fine. We'll do it without you. And if it comes to it, I'll be the wielder."

Now the demon turned to the werewolf. "You wouldn't know how!" she said. "You'll be killed."

"Which you have just said is no concern to you. You can stay here while we attack. If we win, my Illyana will send you home."

They glared into each other's eyes. Then Demon Illyana turned to Enchantress Illyana and said, "All right. I'm in. Let's get this show on the road before I change my mind."

8

8

Sam and a legion of Dwarves joined Dani and her army of the dead, Rahne and her werewolves, and Thor and his Asgardians, and all those armies joined the three Illyanas going into the center of Asgard and storming the palace. Thor, Rahne, and the Illyanas made into the throne room while their forces occupied Gath's demons outside.

Kulan Gath laughed, sitting on one of two thrones. "Well, Enchantress," he said. "You decided to accept my offer, and you found other versions of yourself to fill out the wedding party?"

"Actually," Enchantress Illyana said, "I thought I would move straight to the divorce."

All three Illyanas threw their weapons into the air. There was a flash when the soulstaff and the two soulswords touched, and in their place was a bident with two flaming spear points. It flew down to Demon Illyana's grasp.

"Ah yes," Kulan Gath said as he rose from his throne. "I know of the Norns' prophecy, of course. But the weapon won't do you any good unless it is wielded by one who is twice dead."

Demon Illyana grinned. She said, "It's a bad day for you, then, Kuly, because depending on how you look at it, I'm overqualified."

"Yes, but of the three of them, you are the most honest. Your true nature is showing through…"

Demon Illyana crouched down and leaned the spear against her face. Enchantress stretched. Teenager Illyana stretched her fingers.

"…you really don't want to do this," Kulan went on. "Come now, Illyana. I sensed your true nature when I conquered New City of York. You really don't want to do this. Why are you even bothering? To please your elder brother? To 'fit in' with other young people your age?..."

Demon Illyana yawned. The other two Illyanas also looked bored.

"…I offer nothing less than your heart's desire. All you have to do is put down your weapons and join me."

Teenage Illyana said, "Spawn. Of. The. Pit. Was he expecting that line to work? I mean, could he be more cornball if he tried?"

The enchantress nodded, "Yeah, but I get that a lot."

"Yeah," the demon added, "it's…" She yawned. "…sorry. It's a pretty a standard thing. I mean, the New Mutants believed that at the start, but after a while they got the point. Right, Rahne?"

Rahne nodded.

Kulan Gath betrayed some impatience. "Mocking me doesn't change the truth of my words!"

"Oh, no, Kuly," the demon said casually as she stood, "I'm not disagreeing with anything you said. But you're forgetting something. Two things, actually. One—I think you're repulsive and honestly, if I wanted to marry into evil, I would insist on an Adonis. Shallow of me, I know, but looks matter. But second—and most important—you corrupted and enslaved my friends when you took New York City. Oh, and New Yorkers hate it when you mangle the name. But anyway, yeah, that was in a timeline that got erased, but still, I'm a bit peeved about that. And since you remember those events, too…"

A jet of flame flashed from the bident's blades to Kulan. He flinched.

Demon Illyana flew into the air, holding the bident in both hands, its blades blazing. "…YOU UNDERSTAND WHY I HAVE TO KILL YOU NOW!"

Energy crackled around Kulan's hands as Demon Illyana flew down at him. Rahne had to turn away from the explosion of light and noise that erupted from the throne. It subsided, and when Rahne turned back, the teenaged Illyana had her staff back and the Enchantress version had her soulsword. Demon Illyana limped back from the fallen form of Loki as she held her soulsword. Loki lay on the floor, spark's crackling from Kulan's necklace.

Thor said, "Brother!" He looked at Demon Illyana. "Is he..?"

"Dead?" Demon Illyana said as her soulsword vanished. "No, I didn't put him out of my misery."

Thor knelt by Loki. "Loki."

Loki's eyes fluttered. He looked up at Thor and laughed. "A marvelous jest, Thor. But he wouldn't let me help." Another laugh. "Wonderful jests."

"I know," Thor said. "You can tell me all about it." He scooped up the necklace and helped Loki to his feet. "Come. We have to get your armies to surrender."

Rahne watched as Thor and Loki walked past and left the throne room. Then she turned back to the Illyana demoness. Now she saw that as she shambled back to the group, she was holding her side. Blood was on the fingers.

Rahne gasped. "You've been hurt!" she said as she crossed to the demon.

"Just a flesh wound," the demoness said, "but some bad juju in it. I'll be…" She stumbled. "…Then again…"

Rahne caught the demoness and lowered her to the floor. She looked at the other Illyanas. "Come on! Can't one of you do something?"

Both human Illyanas were somber. Teenager Illyana said, "Strong anti-demon magic. We could shrug it off, but she's not human enough to do it anymore."

Enchantress Illyana added, "She could counter it with a healing spell, but she would need to supercharge it with some life energy from a non-demonic being, preferably someone like an earth elemental…"

"And that means I'm elected. Thought as much." Rahne turned back to the demon. "Well, come on then!"

A soft rasp: "No…It's ok…it's ok…"

"It's not ok," Rahne said. She paused and said: "She wouldn't want this! You understand? Not like this. She never said, but she always respected you for never giving up, even when the others were afraid of you, you stuck to your guns and fought for your place. She wouldn't want you to give up now."

The Demoness looked into Rahne's eyes for a moment. Then she said, "It'll hurt. Worse than that exorcism."

"Figured that. Just get on with it!"

Demon Illyana forced herself to sit up and pulled Rahne into an embrace. The other two Illyanas backed away. Then a pentagram of silver fire formed around the werewolf and the demoness. Their bodies ignited, burning with silver fire even though it did no physical damage. Rahne cringed but held the demon tight. Then the fire went out.

Rahne and Illyana struggled to their feet. Then Rahne stumbled.

Demoness Illyana caught her. "You'll be all right in a moment."

"Yeah, sure." She straightened up. "Right. Let's help Thor wrap this up."

8

8

Rahne looked at herself in a full-length mirror in a room next to Enchantress Illyana's throne room. She had a white forelock amongst her red hairs, and crow's feet around her eyes. They hadn't been there before.

Demon Illyana came in behind her. She said, "You'll recover, but you'll never be back to what you were before…inside and out."

Rahne turned to face the demon. "I don't know if that's a bad thing. I look distinguished. That's not a bad thing for royalty."

"That's the spirit." A pause, then Demon Illyana asked, "How did you know?"

"It wasn't hard to figure out. You aren't exactly a poker face. You know, when we first met…I and my Illyana…you know…I would look at you and see a demon. Now I look at you and see my friend. If I could take your pain from you, I would. As it is, I'll just hope and pray you can find your way. It's what your Rahne would do."

"I know. And speaking of her…"

"Let me guess. You have some idea involving loads of black magic?"

"Something like that."

"Well, there's no talking you out of it, that I know. So just be careful."

"I will-"

A throat clearing sounded behind them. They turned to see teenage Illyana in the door.

The teenager advanced into the room and said, "Enchantress Us is getting to send us home, so…before we go…" She focused on the demon. "You and Rahne were on a team of some kind, right?"

Demon Illyana nodded.

"Why did you join?" Teenage Illyana asked. "I mean, knowing what you are, what Belasco made you to be, uh…" She trailed off.

Demon Illyana smiled. "Well, Roberto da Costa is a great kisser."

Rahne's head snapped to Demon Illyana. "Wot!?"

"Oh come on, Rahne! Don't tell me you never." Demon Illyana read the look on Rahne's face. "Wait—you never? Ever? Rahne!"

"I think I'll see how my Illyana is getting on." Rahne stalked out of the room.

"Seriously," the teenager said, "I want to know why you did what you did."

"Met the team, have you?"

"No, but I have met this Professor Xavier, and my brother is in the X-Men, so I'm guessing the professor is behind the New Mutants?"

"Yes. Should be. I know what you're thinking, Illyana. I had the same thoughts myself before I was on the team. And if…some things hadn't happened, I might never have joined. Because you're right." Demon Illyana tapped her own chest. "This will always be inside you. It will never go away. You will always be dangerous to people around you."

"I know," Teenager Illyana said. "But looking at you and Rahne, I've been wondering if I've been missing out."

"You could be. But that means doing something you don't want to do and letting people get close. There are risks they can't imagine for you doing it but rewards you can't imagine at the same time. You just have to weigh the potential risks against the potential rewards and make up your own mind."

8

8

Rahne, the Demon Illyana, and Teenage Illyana watched as Enchantress Illyana finished conjuring the new portal cloud.

The Enchantress turned to her other selves. "There. It's set up so you'll return a few second after you left. I know, story of our lives, right? I just wanted to say…it's been good to meet me. And I hope I have the best of luck."

Rahne rubbed her forehead. "I will never look at personal pronouns the same way again."

Enchantress said to Demon Illyana, "It's aimed at your limbo first."

Demon Illyana turned to the others and smiled. "Nice meeting you guys. Take care, Kid."

"You, too, Red," Teenage Illyana said, "and, um, what was his name again? Robbie something or other?" (Rahne rolled her eyes.)

"Roberto da Costa," Demon Illyana said. "Sunspot. Latin lover in training. The Universe's gift to women in his own mind. Don't worry. You won't have any trouble finding him." She nodded to the others, and with a few wing beats flew into the cloud and vanished.

Enchantress Illyana gestured at the cloud, then said, "Nonstop to Mars."

"Ok," Teenage Illyana said. She turned to Rahne. "I'm sorry about…before."

"It's ok, Love," Rahne said. "I know who I'm dealing with. You're not so bad."

Enchantress Illyana said, "Thanks, Rahne."

"Oh, brother," Rahne lamented.

Teenage Illyana gripped her staff. Her cloak of levitation billowed, and she floated into the cloud.


	4. Chapter 4

Seth and Hath hesitantly approached the place where the cloud had been. Then another one appeared. The Demon Illyana flew out of it and landed in front of them. The cloud disappeared.

Seth said, "Darkchylde! Are you all right?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I spent some quality time with me and myself."

"Oh," Seth said. "Well, we're sorry we offended you. We'll obey your command. And we'll be going-"

"No." Illyana crouched down. "It is I who should apologize. You were honoring my friends, and for that, I should thank you. In fact…" She spread her arms. Dust and smoke flowed into the space between her hands and congealed into Hath's box. It floated into the grasp of the elated female demon child. "There. All is as it was."

Hath opened the box and her face fell. "Wait—what are they wearing!?"

"New uniforms of my design," Illyana said.

"Classic uniforms were best," Hath said tartly. Seth nodded.

Illyana made a small gesture. "Done." She reached into the box and pulled out the figurine of Rahne. "And this one, Wolfsbane, was the most important."

Seth said, "We thought you were the leader!"

"Errr…." Illyana said, "Rahne wasn't the leader. But in some ways, she was the guide. When you were lost, she could help you find your way home." She put the figurine back in the box. "And it's time I returned the favor." She lifted off, then hovered and looked back at the demon children. "Stop by the palace. I have some misconceptions to clear up and a lot of stories to tell." And she flew back the way she had come.

8

8

Sitting on Limbo's throne, Hela looked up as Illyana climbed in through the window. The Demoness was smiling.

"Well," Hela said, "someone had a good flight."

"Worked wonders," Illyana said. "Hela, I have to thank you."

"Thank me?"

"Yes. My ever trustworthy and loyal servants, S'Ym and N'astirh, were concerned about my wellbeing and asked you to *pretend* to take over Limbo and pull me out of my funk."

Hela smiled. "Always willing to lend a hand a hand to a fellow hell lord."

"Of course," Illyana said, her smile not wavering. "And in that spirit, if you get off my throne right freaking now, I won't carve you up and send you back to Hel in separate boxes."

"Welcome back, Magik." Hela got off the throne. Illyana mounted and crouched on it.

S'Ym nodded. "Good to have you back, Boss. You look better."

"I feel better, S'Ym. Thank you."

Hela said, "So. I've done my good deed for the day. Is there anything else before I go back to Hel and overcompensate for altruism by torturing a few thousand damned souls for no particular reason?"

"As a matter of fact, Hela," Illyana said, "there is."

"Why am I not surprised?"

8

8

Stephen Strange backed up into a fighting stance as the cloud reappeared. But Teenage Illyana floated out and landed in front of him. The cloud disappeared.

As angry as was, Stephen was also concerned. "Are you all right?"

"Yes."

"Who sent that?"

"Me…an alternate me from another reality. She'd learned more magic from Belasco than I did, and she was also the Enchantress of Asgard. She had me and another me to help fight a bad guy."

"So…the Enchantress was the good guy?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"How did you…she…end up in Asgard?"

"Really long story, and I never got it."

"I see. Well…"

"Stephen, wait. I'm very sorry I lied to you. If I never, ever, lie to you again, will you keep me on as your apprentice? Please. I'll be good. I promise."

"I told you, you can't stay."

"I know, I can't stay. I'll go to live with my brother. But if I can convince him to let me keep studying under you, can I? I can teleport down and back no problem. And as sorcerer supreme, you should keep an eye on me, right?"

Stephen looked away and wrestled with himself. Then he turned back. "I normally don't give second chances, so don't squander this one."

"Yay!"

"Don't celebrate yet, Illyana. You can't use magic on your brother. He has to agree of his own free will. If he doesn't, that's it."

"He'll agree."

"Well, *if* he agrees, I will be watching you like a hawk. You will have to work very hard to regain my trust. And if you ever lie again, you're out on your ear."

"Don't worry, Stephen. You won't regret this."

"That remains to be seen."

8

8

A troll butler entered Enchantress Illyana's study. "Pardon the intrusion, Mistress."

"What is it, Ulock?" Enchantress Illyana asked.

"You have a visitor, Mistress."

Rahne entered behind Ulock.

"Rahne!" Illyana said, smiling. "I wasn't expecting you. Dani's not here."

"I know. I came to see you."

"You did? Why?"

"Because we're friends. And because I think it wouldn't be a bad idea to spend some time with someone who isn't shrouded in evil and death. Unless you want me to leave."

"No, of course not! Ulock! Bring food and drink. We can see if I'm still any good at 'girl talk.'"

8

8

Demon Illyana stood in the courtyard of her palace flanked by S'Ym and N'astirh. Illyana wore a formal cloak, and her hair had been braided with skulls and pentagrams at the ends of the braids.

Light flash. The Living Tribunal appeared, flanked by Hela and Mephisto. Two chests were on the ground in front of Mephisto.

The Tribunal said, "Hela, Magik, a word."

Hela and Illyana crossed to the tribunal.

"Off the record," the Tribunal said, "you aren't fooling anybody, but in your place, I might have done the same thing in my previous life."

Heal said innocently, "I don't know what you mean."

"Neither do I," Illyana said.

"Of couse." He stepped back to his former place. "For the record, I find the terms of this settlement acceptable, and I expect all parties to abide by the terms of the arbitration. Mephisto."

Mephisto said, "I yield these souls to the custody of the Darkchylde for the duration of negotiations." Locks fell away from the chests.

"Hela?" Tribunal asked.

"I agree to leave these souls with the Darkchylde until the resolution of this dispute."

"Very well." Tribunal's expression didn't change, but he winked. Then he, Mephisto, and Hela vanished.

Illyana gestured and two life-size statues of Roberto and Rahne, correct down to hair and skin color and dressed in old school New Mutants uniforms, appeared. Another gesture and the chests opened. A point of light rose out of each. One went into the statue Rahne, the other into Roberto's effigy. The statues came to life.

Illyana grinned. "How do you like them, guys?

Rahne looked down herself in alarm. "Madre de Dios!" she said in alarm with a Spanish accent. 'She' looked at the other statue. "Rahne?"

'Bobby' said with a Scottish accent, "'Berto?"

"WOOPS!" Illyana spread her hands and crossed them; light flashed between the two bodies. They staggered but then steadied themsleves.

"Sorry," llyana said sheepishly. "You both where you're supposed to be?"

Rahne—in her body—looked at Illyana. "What are these? What have you done?"

"Well, technically, you both committed suicide. Bobby, I guess a heroic sacrifice still counts. And Rahne…come on! Those four idiots should have never got the drop on you. You let them beat you to death."

"I didn't want to hurt them," Rahne said.

"Oh, please," Illyana said. "You could have got to the woods with one leap and they never would have found you. And you know it."

"I know," Rahne said. "I guess I wanted my suffering to end."

"It doesn't work like that, and then after you…" Illyana trailed off.

Rahne frowned the at the demon. "Are you crying?"

Illyana dabbed some water from her cheeks. "I guess I am. Maybe all isn't lost yet. Ok. You two committed suicide. That's a big no-no and you both ended up in Hell. Only Hela decided she had claims on your souls. You, Rahne, mated with Hrimhari. And you, Bobby…well, it's more tenuous, but I understand that Asgard's ladies still whisper the legend of Shadowskin."

Bobby smiled. "I bet they do."

"Anyway," Illyana said, "Hela made her claim, and that could lead to the kind of war the infernal realms could not handle. So they went to the Living Tribunal for arbitration. And he signed off on putting you two in the care of…" Illyana cleared her throat. "…a neutral third party until they settle their differences, which should only take two or three thousand years. And while you're here, I can do whatever I want, so I gave you new bodies. They're the best I can do on short notice. They're only good in Limbo, for now anyway, and they're not anatomically correct, and I haven't added your mutant powers yet, but-"

"Wait," Rahne said, "back up. Is there something you're not telling us? Did you put some kind of fix in? I can't believe you'd leave this to chance."

"No, Rahne," Illyana said, "it's all on the up and up. But didn't hurt that this Living Tribunal was the Adam Warlock of another universe, and that means he knows Thanos, who's Hela's ex-"

Rahne winced. "You idiot! You owe Hela, don't you? What will you do when she comes to collect?"

"Deal with it. We always do. Anyway, it's done. There's no reversing this, and I wouldn't if I could."

"Ok, 'Yana," Rahne lamented, "in that case, what's the plan?"

"In no particular order, Rahne, bring you two back to life, preferably in your old bodies though I don't yet know how I'm going to pull that off; regain my mutant power and my ability to become human; look into all the other mutants who allegedly died, because it is kind of hinkey that a lot of people bought it so quickly; and along the way take names and kick butt."

Roberto said, "Just like that?"

"Yeah, Bobby," the demoness said with a smile, "just like that."

"I dunno," Rahne said. "Apart from messing with the natural order, that would be a tall order, even for the X-Men. And in case you forgot, the X-Men have been trashed."

"Well, fortunately, we're not X-Men," Illyana said. "We're the New Mutants. We're better."

Roberto said, "Ok, that said, why are we wearing old school uniforms?"

"Our fans are very particular, Bobby."

"What fans, 'Yana?"

"Seth!" Illyana called. "Hath! Get over here."

Seth and Hath scurried over from the courtyard wall, wearing O. G. New Mutants uniforms. Hath held a book to her bosom. She said, "Mr. Sunspot, can I have your autograph?"

Rahne gawked. "Fans? In Limbo?"

"Yeah," Illyana said, "all this time we've been hometown heroes. Who knew?"

Rahne said, "Even when they were trying to kill us?"

"Yeah, even then. Demons. Go figure."

Roberto smiled. "Well, I, for one, will not neglect my adoring public."

"Didn't think you would," Illyana said. "Just be careful. That class of demons has biting issues and I'm the one who would have to put you back together again."

8

8

Wolverine said, "Well, here she is." He was leaning against a counter in the control room of the danger room under Professor Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters. The other X-Men and the New Mutants—Dani, Sam, Roberto, Rahne, Dough, Shan, and Warlock—were all crowded in there. Professor X sat at the control panel with Stephen Strange standing next to him.

The object of his statement, Illyana Rasputin, stood in the door. She had put on the yellow and black New Mutants uniform, but she wore her cloak of levitation over it.

"Wonderful," Rahne lamented. "Bad enough she is a witch. Does she advertise it?"

Wolverine chuckled. "If her hocus pocus works, you won't care if it saves your bacon."

"Not if it costs me my soul," Rahne shot back.

Illyana advanced into the room. "Don't be like that, Rahne. Your soul is safe with me. In fact, I have a hunch you and I will get along famously."

Rahne looked away. "Hmmph."

"Enough," Professor X said. "Illyana, because you are a mutant and a sorceress, you will have two testing sessions in the Danger Room, one for your mutant abilities and one test for your sorcery. This test is for the latter. Stephen here has been kind enough to help me program test parameters for you."

"*After* I moved out. What a coincidence."

"Do you have any questions?"

"One. Roberto? Can I check something real quick?"

Bobby crossed to her. "Of course."

"Thanks." Illyana clamped her hands on either side of Roberto's face and mashed her mouth onto his. Bobby thrashed for a second, then his arms found their ways around her and they settled into the kiss.

Illyana broke the kiss. She smiled. "Hmm. Looks like she was right about you."

"Who was?" Bobby asked.

"Oh, uh, let's just say we have a mutual friend."

"I don't have any friends who know you."

Illyana giggled. "You'd be surprised."

"Well, I suppose a lady of quality is allowed some mystery."

Dani said, "'Lady of quality' being any chick who looks at him for longer than three seconds. Though they usually wait for his pickup lines."

Professor X said, "That wasn't the kind of question I had in mind."

"You said *any* questions."

Wolverine chuckled. "Bit literal. Better watch how you use slang on around her, Chuck."

Professor X cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, do you have any specific questions concerning this test?"

"Oh." She and Bobby disengaged. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I'll tell you as soon as you get down to the danger room."

"Ok." Illyana turned to leave, then turned back. "One more thing: Any of you ever hear something about a demon bear?"

Dani stiffened. "How do you know about that?"

"Ah," Illyana said. "We have to talk later. Sorcerer Supreme business."

Stephen said, "Which you are not yet."

"Right, so she has to talk with both of us."

Wolverine's amusement hadn't abated. "Been here five minutes and she's taking over. Reality check, squirt: You ain't in the X-Men."

"No, Mr. Wolverine," Illyana said, "we're the New Mutants. We'll be better. You watch."

Professor X said, "With time and training, anything is possible. Now, if you will take your place?"

Illyana darted down the stairs and through the door to the danger room. "Ok. I'm here." Her soulstaff appeared in her hand. "What am I supposed to do?"

A door opened at the far end of the room. Professor X's voice sounded from the room's speaker: "Get to the door at the other end and leave." After a moment, he added, "None of the others made it across the room. This is just for me to get a baseline."

"Huh. Well, you never tried this on me. I'll try not wreck the place" Illyana's cloak billowed as she lifted off the floor as she felt the room come to life. She smiled.

Whatever her future held with these New Mutants, she already knew she wasn't going to regret it.

_"But I won't cry for yesterday  
There's an ordinary world  
Somehow I have to find  
And as I try to make my way  
To the ordinary world  
I will learn to survive."  
-_Duran Duran, "Ordinary World"

_"An ending can also be a beginning."  
_-Illyana Rasputin, Magik vol. 1 #4 (Claremont, Buscema)


End file.
